Various resources, including products, services and information, may be accessed by the general public via voice or data communications. For example, a person may make a voice call to a customer service department of a financial institution and request financial services over the phone. As another example, computing devices, such as desktop and laptop computers networked with a financial institution, may be used to access online services of the financial institution. In this manner, financial transactions may be conducted over a voice line or data network to allow customers to accomplish many tasks, such as doing their banking outside of bank hours and from anywhere where network access is available.
Whether resources are accessed via voice or data communication, many resource providers implement some type of security procedure to protect the product, services and information in their possession. A popular security procedure utilized by many service providers is to require people who attempt to access their resources to convey a specific, predetermined password. A password is a form of secret authentication data that is used to control access to a resource of the resource provider. The password is kept secret from those not allowed access, and those wishing to gain access are tested on whether or not they know the password and are granted or denied access accordingly.
Even when a password is utilized, fraudulent individuals and groups are able to “steal” the password of select victims and gain access to resources intended for the victims without proper authorization. For example, a fraudulent individual may look over the shoulder of a user and observe the user's visual/mechanical interaction with a user interface of his or her device in order to reconstruct the user's password. Also, the fraudulent individual may overhear the user's audio interaction with the user interface. Users of wireless communication devices are particularly susceptible to such fraudulent crimes, since wireless communication devices may be used almost anywhere, thus providing fraudulent individuals with many opportunities to observe and/or overhear the user's interaction with his or her user interface.
There is a need for a wireless communication device of a user that minimizes the opportunities for others to steal or otherwise gain unauthorized access to resources of a resource provider intended for the user. In particular, the wireless communication device should provide a way for the user to identify his or her password to the resource provider with minimal interaction with the user interface of the device, thus minimizing the opportunities for others to observe and/or overhear the user's interaction with his or her device.